STENOPHILOSCIA VERNOEFF, 1908 (ISOPODA: ONISCIDEA) – A NEW GENUS FOR THE TERRITORY OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA AND THE BLACK SEA COAST

The article provides information about the fi rst fi nd of the supralittoral genus Stenophiloscia Vernoeff, 1908 (Оniscidea: Halophilosciidae) for the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea coast. The woodlice were discovered under driftwood and rocks in 8 meters from the water’s edge on the sandy-rocky shore of the «Yashmoviy Plyagh» near Cape Fiolent in the surroundings of Sevastopol. Morphological criteria for classifying the discovered specimens as belonging to the genus Stenophiloscia are presented. The basis for the identifi cation was a set of morphological features characterizing the genus, includes the following similarities: the fl agellum has three short segments, abundantly covered with long bristles; endopodite I is voluminous, expands towards the end, has a fi nger-like protrusion on the outside; exopodite is almost ovoid, slightly pointed from the distal side, devoid of large bristles; the surface of pereonites and pleonites is rough, it is covered with bristles and bumps. The work also represents some behavioral and ecological features of the current population in comparison with Halophiloscia couchii (Kinahan, 1858) found in the same place.